The Ninth Circle
by astridfire
Summary: Elizabeth and Barbossa have a chat on the way to World's End. Slight JE.


Title: The Ninth Circle

Summary: Elizabeth and Barbossa have a chat on their way to World's End. Slight J/E.

Rating: Oh, nothing bad here. Probably G.

Spoilers for DMC and speculation for AWE.

A/N: This is my first try at Barbossa, and though he doesn't say much he was a pain to write. Jack kept saying Barbossa's lines in my head and it would come out all wrong. I can't tell you how many times I tried to add 'love' onto the end of his sentences. Annoying. Let me know how I did with him. I guess that means that Jack wants to come out and play, so I'll be getting to that next. This is pretty angsty, and there's obviously no Barbossabeth going on, it's just a chat between reluctant allies. I think this might be the start (or maybe somewhere in the middle) of a story arc, so we'll see how that goes. Oh, also I threw one of my favorite Geoffrey lines from _Shakespeare in Love_ in here. You'll know it when you see it. Couldn't resist, mate.

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They are sailing around the southern tip of Africa. It is winter in the southern hemisphere, and colder than any winter Elizabeth can remember from her life in England. She still doesn't feel comfortable spending time with the rest of the crew, who are all below deck and out of the cold. Her conscience is heavy and their constant anecdotes of Jack wear on her. So she huddles in a fur blanket on deck, taking some comfort in her frozen fingers and icy hair that seem to match her insides.

Captain Barbossa is the only person on this ship who doesn't have a single nice thing to say about Jack. In fact, he doesn't say much to her at all, but it isn't a tense silence, so here she sits. She has come to enjoy his odd mix of formality and directness. Not many could pull it off. Jack certainly couldn't. She was always 'love' or 'darling' or 'Lizzie.' Her mind presents her with a velvet toned memory of, "Pirate."

She chokes back a sob, and to her horror it rings loudly in the hollow air.

Captain Barbossa spares her a glace before turning back to the wheel.

"How are you faring, Miss Swann?" his tone was ironic, but not entirely unkind.

She sniffs, and says, "I'm quite alright, Captain."

He laughs at her blatant lie, "I suppose you're missing him too, are you?"

She doesn't answer, knowing that he'll read it in her face easily enough, "Why do you hate him so much?"

"Have you not met him? Always talking himself in circles until no one knows which way is up, and impudent to boot." Elizabeth has to give him that, and she nearly smiles.

"Why are you helping us? You're certainly not missing Jack."

"No."

"So what's in this for you?"

But he only leers and throws a smirk her way. Perhaps he was trying to unsettle her, but Elizabeth already knew he wasn't to be trusted, and that made him a bit predictable. Not that she'd be telling him that.

"And World's End? Why were you there before?"

"The curse, Miss Swann. We were under that curse for ten long years, unable to die, and believe you me, we made every attempt to die."

"And the locker didn't work?"

"Do you know what happens to the souls who go to Davy Jones' Locker, Miss Swann? Do you know what your Jack Sparrow is suffering at this moment?"

She shakes her head, and blinks back the tears that would freeze on her face.

"In the locker, you relive your worst fears, over and over. For eternity."

She shivers. And what were Jack's worst fears? She wonders. Being caged? Wings clipped, a sparrow unable to fly. Freedom gone, that's for certain.

"We decided the hell we were living in wern't quite so bad."

"How did you get out?"

"I don't know. It's a mystery."

She frowns at him. Is he being obtuse on purpose or has he gone mad?

"That's why we're stopping in Singapore, miss. We'll need a map."

They descend into silence once more, and Elizabeth is pulled inward. She's become like this man, she realizes. They have both left Jack to die. She knows that of the two, her betrayal was worse because she used her lips and her power over Jack Sparrow to bring about his end. She used his own feelings against him, and though he had smiled and had lovingly called her, "Pirate," she knew that he was also damning her to hell. She felt as if she were there already, frozen in that ninth circle. The scene is right anyway; the boat is snowy white, and they float serenely past icebergs and broken sheets of ice.

Her teeth start to chatter and Barbossa looks around at her again, "Shouldn't you be below, cuddling up with your young man?"

She lets out an annoyed huff, "Do you mind my company?"

"I'm just curious as to why you don't play well with the others. Well?"

She scowls and holds his gaze. She didn't think anyone else had noticed her behavior.

"The captain has asked you a question, miss. You must answer," his eyes hold a level of ire, but if he did see fit to throw her overboard for her impudence she would welcome the slow cold death.

"I'm not scared of you, Captain Barbossa."

"You should be, Miss Swann. I'm a bad man," his smile is meant to be wicked and to leave her shaking, but it seems fear has left her along with everything else.

She laughs shortly, and without humor, "Peas in a pod, Captain."

And though he questions her, she will say no more.


End file.
